Blog

Month: October 2018

Okay, hands up, we’ve all got a little bit of wobbly fat, here and there, which will just not go, haven’t we? I know I have!

No matter how good our best intentions are to eat well and exercise, spending hours and hard-earned money on kale smoothies and gym visits, stubborn pockets of fat remain in areas such as love handles or bra rolls, muffin tops around the tummy, saddle bags on the outer thighs and other areas around the male and female abdomen. It can be very disheartening, for both men and women, when they just won’t shift!

Well the good news is that at my clinic, Aesthetics in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, we have a solution for dissolving these fat pockets, which are resistant to diet and exercise, called Desobody.

Let me tell you more…

Desobody is a product used for a treatment called injection lipolysis. Lipolysis literally means fat-dissolving and that is what the injection of Desobody into targeted areas will do over a course of treatments. The active ingredient is called sodium deoxycholate (deoxycholic acid) which is a special medical detergent which breaks down fat cells. It has a concentration of 1.25% sodium deoxycholate in Desobody.

We also have another product called Desoface which is a lower concentration of sodium deoxycholate (0.5%) for treating double chins, which I will tell you all about in another blog.

Treatment with Desobody uses a thin cannula (non-sharp needle) which is placed under the skin through a single insertion point. This means that we can evenly deliver the active ingredient in a fan-like pattern across the whole area where we are wanting to dissolve the fat cells. The amount of Desobody needed will depend on the size of the area(s) being treated. Each session will take around 45 minutes, with only mild discomfort as a local anaesthetic is used to numb the area. Following treatment, you can expect some redness and swelling as the product gets to work on disrupting the fat cells, so they release their contents. There may also be some bruising and mild to moderate pain in the first 24-72 hours, which can be managed with over-the-counter pain medications like paracetamol. Over the coming weeks your body will slowly metabolise and expel the released lipids from the fat cells. Repeat treatment is required, and depending on the area being treated, we recommend 2-4 sessions, spaced 4-8 weeks apart, for optimum results and fat reduction.

It’s important to remember that this is not a weight-loss solution or slimming aid. The best candidates for treatment are those who have a medium body weight (BMI), who may be just slightly overweight, and have localised fat deposits, i.e. small, specific areas of fat around their back, stomach, hips, buttocks, inner and outer thighs or knees.

Following completion of the treatment, you can expect the area of fat targeted to be reduced and the firmness of the overlying skin to also be improved.

If you are concerned about stubborn pockets of fat and want to discuss if Desobody is right for you, please call 01438 300111 to book an appointment to see Dr. Harry Singh at Aesthetics in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

Ageing presents in many ways on the face and isn’t just limited to lines and wrinkles or a loss of elasticity to the skin. As we age, skin will lose tone, becoming dry and uneven in texture, perhaps feeling rough. Skin can also suffer from changes in pigmentation or photo-damage which creates uneven patches of skin colour, or age spots, as well as dark under-eye circles. Exposure to sun is partly to blame but genetics, lifestyle choices and the natural pathway of getting older all play a part.

This means that as well as addressing deeper lines and wrinkles with dermal fillers or relaxing dynamic wrinkles, such as frown lines or crow’s feet, with botulinum toxins to allow the skin to recover; it’s important to consider treatments which can help to restore the whole of the skin, rejuvenate and stimulate the building blocks of new skin.

I’m very pleased to announce that to provide additional options for my patients, I now offer Sunekos® at my clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In fact, I am a UK trainer for other medical practitioners in the use of this product and have been very impressed with the results.

Sunekos is a new cosmetic injectable product, which like the Restylane® dermal filler range that I use contains hyaluronic acid. But, what makes Sunekos special is the patented formula of amino acids, which is added alongside the hyaluronic acid to create the injected product. This potent mix of amino acids which includes glycine, L-proline, L-leucine, L-lysine HCI, L-valine and L-alanine help to regenerate the Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) – the building blocks which help to make the wall – by stimulating fibroblasts, or skin cells, to produce new collagen and elastin, repairing and rebuilding skin. This process is referred to as a dermal biogenesis, literally skin regeneration.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural component of our skin which draws in water to act as a natural moisturiser, keeping skin hydrated and plump, both of which are signs of youthful skin. HA is made by our bodies daily, but, as we age, we produce less natural HA and our skin suffers in appearance because of it. Amino acids are made by our bodies and are essential for the creation of healthy skin, acting as the precursors to the formation of new collagen and elastin.

Sunekos offers two different treatment options for skin regeneration, which can be performed separately or in combination – Sunekos 200 and Sunekos 1200.

Sunekos 200 contains a low molecular weight HA and Sunekos 1200 is a medium molecular weight HA. The former can be used alone to treat the face, neck, décolletage and hands and is great for younger people. If additional ‘cushioning’ is required in the case of lax, sagging skin or deeper lines and wrinkles, then the Sunekos 1200 can be combined to give extra scaffold support for the dermal biogenesis.

Clinical trials have shown that hyaluronic acid products on their own can cause biorevitalisation in the skin, stimulating fibroblasts, but the addition of the amino acids is like adding extra fuel to a fire, their presence stimulates and directly targets the ECM fibroblasts which is important when it comes to rebuilding the dermal layers of the skin. Participants in trials reported improvements in wrinkles, skin plumpness and hydration, as well as a lifting effect.

I recommend a course of three to four weekly treatments to achieve the best results with Sunekos 200, followed by a repeated course of treatments every six months. If extra support is required with Sunekos 1200, then this will be injected a few days before treatment commences with Sunekos 200. You will start to notice the effects of treatment after a week or so as skin begins to rejuvenate.

If you want to discuss if Sunekos can help your skin, then please call 01438 300111 to book and appointment to see Dr. Harry Singh at Aesthetics in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

Mention the words ‘face lift’ and everyone starts thinking about scalpels, cutting into skin and then pulling back on the face, but what about a non-surgical face lift?

Times have changed, and we now have many more options in medical aesthetics which allow practitioners to work with a patient to produce the cosmetically-enhanced results which once could only be achieved with surgery. Surgery still has a place for those with considerable ageing and skin laxity, but if you’re not quite there yet, then we can do wonders with thread lifting or a puppet face lift.

The puppet face lift is a term coined, probably by the media I think, to refer to a thread lifting technique with Silhouette Soft threads to achieve a non-surgical form of face lifting.

The Silhouette Soft threads are lengths of suture material containing Poly-L-Lactic Acid or PLLA. Along each thread, which varies in size depending upon where it will be used, are small ‘cones’ made from lactic and glycolic acids. These cones are separated by knots along the suture line to stop them from sliding up and down the thread but keeping them free-floating between the knots. The cones are bi-directional which means that from the centre of the thread either 4, 6 or 8 cones will go in each direction out towards the end of the threads. The cones are the anchors for the threads so that when a thread is implanted in the skin, pulled and tightened into place, the cones secure themselves to maintain the lift. Threads are inserted using a fine needle through an entry and exit point. The same entry point will be used for multiple threads which are usually laid out in a pattern to achieve the designed amount of lifting needed. Treatment takes about 30 minutes and can be used along the jawline, the mid-face and the neck.

These threads are full re-absorbable, meaning that they do not remain permanently in the body but dissolve over time, usually after a year. PLLA has a stimulatory effect on the skin tissue, so as well as providing a mechanical lifting and skin tightening when the thread is put into position, it also increases the production of the body’s natural collagen around the thread for a longer-term result. Known as a foreign body reaction, the presence of the thread tricks the body into making more collagen so the lift from the thread remains in the natural tissues after the PLLA has been dissolved.

Due to the nature of the procedure, it’s important that you only seek treatment from an experienced medical practitioner who has undergone manufacturer-approved training, specifically in the placement of Silhouette Soft threads.

Thread lifting with Silhouette Soft is ideal for women and men, aged between their mid- to late-30s and their mid-50s, who have a good underlying skin structure but who are showing some slight sagging in the cheeks and jawline, consistent with the early signs of ageing. Such individuals would not yet be candidates for surgical intervention but would benefit from tissue lifting and tightening to improve the laxity. Results from a puppet thread lift last between 18 months to 2 years and treatment can be combined with other aesthetic treatment options such as dermal fillers.

If you’re not ready for a surgical face lift, but think a thread lift might be for you, then please arrange a consultation appointment with me, Dr. Harry Singh at Aesthetics in Stevenage, Hertfordshire and we can discuss if Silhouette Soft threads and a puppet face lift are suitable for you. Please call us on 01438 300111.